This is a fairly straightforward extract from a research study looking at how older people in Spain, France and the UK have responded to the overwhelming influx of new technologies which has transformed how many people communicate and access information. I have included the introduction and discussion to the full paper.

Population aging is one of the most significant features of contemporary western society. The proportion of the population made up of those over 55 continues to grow, at an accelerating rate – it is estimated that in 2050, older people will account for 32% of the Spanish population. This means that in the near future, Spain will become the world’s top-ranking country for longevity. This is largely due to an increase in life expectancy, the result of advances in medicine as well as the benefits of improved nutrition and education, compounded by a declining birth rate which has been profoundly affected by the economic crisis, now a factor in decision-making around reproduction (Abad, 2014). The aim of this study is to bring a renewed focus to the issue of new technologies and to ascertain, through a comparative study looking at the United Kingdom, France and Spain, how older people are adapting to this influx of new forms of communication (Santamarina, 2004: 47-76).

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) opens up a huge range of possibilities, not only in terms of the dissemination of information but also in the capacity for direct connections between those distributing it and their potential audiences (Ferrés, 2000; Castells, 2001; Cornelissen, 2011). Nevertheless, there are also a number of obstacles for older people using these technologies (Hamelink, 2000). The recent surge in new technologies, and their rapid expansion, have not allowed for continuous exposure among this segment of the population. Furthermore, older people can feel detached from new technologies, uncomfortable with them, and ill-equipped to handle them, since they have not been presented with adequate learning opportunities. Very often, new technologies are viewed with mistrust (Suh & Han, 2003), or else the services which they offer are not aimed at or adapted to specific applications which might be of benefit to people in particular age groups. This paper begins by positing that ICT is insufficiently attuned to the needs of older people, who should be able to appreciate the benefits that these new services can offer them (Abad 2014), and to become sufficiently skilled in using the various tools that would open up those services (Silva, 2005), including those which would help them to maintain and improve their health (Choi & Leung, 2008).

In the model presented by the new information society, communication occurs in a harmonised manner across multiple screened devices, bringing opportunities for a degree of interactivity which has altered the ways in which individuals relate to one another (Aparici, 2011). With ICT we see the rise of a network of communication in which all users can become transmitters of information (“prosumers” [1]), partly by creating their own content, but especially through participation. This participation, in conjunction with the increasing ubiquity of the internet in 21st century homes and the adoption of other mobile digital resources, is creating a genuine social revolution (Barroso, 2002). The ICT industry has been forced to generate new kinds of content and to change the ways in which it relates to consumers (Gonzáles & Monleón, 2013). Citizens are becoming used to a new context in which they are beginning to play a more active role. Education is essential throughout this process of change (Prieto, 1999; Cebrián, 2001), and so mechanisms for teaching and learning must be continuous and capable of reaching as many people as possible, especially those in older age groups who need to assimilate new knowledge, competences and skills for the digital world, as shown by recent studies by Silva (2005: 51-58) and Santamarina (2004: 47-76). Cognitive processes in older people are not the same as those of younger individuals, and are shaped as much by personal circumstances as by socio-cultural factors (Pavón, 2000: 133-139). With the passage of time, changes occur in the processes through which people learn, as well as in their capacity to retain information, and so the education and learning techniques available to older age groups need to be tailored appropriately (Freixas, 1997).

From the results obtained from the three counties studied, it is clear that the older population in Spain is the least equipped to make use of new technologies, and this is primarily due to a lack of education and training for older people in the field of ICT. These results highlight the potential for establishing new initiatives more specifically geared towards those in older age groups and using methods suitable for their needs, abilities and limitations. Older people in our society have reservations about new technologies but they should be given greater encouragement, particularly if we hope to catch up with our European neighbours.

The IT industry ought to expand the products and services it offers to include options suited to the needs of our older citizens, which are easy to adopt, operate and apply. Older people should receive priority attention so that they are able to gain autonomy and meet the challenge of accessing information in the new digital society for themselves, and are capable of creating and transmitting content as well as searching for and selecting information. This will require us to embrace the economic, ideological, political and cultural participation of older people at a time when technology is playing such a key role in society.

There are a number of previous examples of successful training practices which have allowed different groups to remain active in society and well integrated at every stage of life. These should now be enhanced with specific adaptations by continuing education programmes targeted at older people. It is imperative that the necessary mechanisms be established to ensure that, in today’s information and knowledge-based society, learning opportunities are genuinely long-lasting, continuous, and within reach of the majority of individuals.

As active participants in society, older people constantly present us with new requirements which must be addressed and integrated into our social system. All educational institutions, particularly those most closely associated with research, such as universities, should tailor their provision and adapt the range of training opportunities which they offer, in order to establish a pool of specialists professionally equipped to respond to the new needs of older people.

Older people in France and the United Kingdom, although also demonstrating scope for improvement in their knowledge and skills in relation to ICT, are seen as a niche market, of interest to a number of sectors. They constitute a population segment that is both quantitatively and politically significant, with massive voting power, and also offer valuable human capital as a result of their greater knowledge and experience. In Spain, however, older people are not always regarded as an opportunity, and they often find themselves excluded when it comes to new technologies. Older people in Spain require a greater degree of motivation to learn, but this lack of motivation will be redressed as they discover that ICT has the potential to significantly improve their quality of life.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES

[1]: The neologism “prosumer” is widely used in the social science literature in English to refer to the revolutionary interactivity of contemporary social media and ICT – the ways in which the user of these technologies can no longer be regarded as a mere “consumer” but, through sharing, “liking” and broadcasting new content, whether from a responsive or proactive stance, has also become a creator and transmitter of new content. The Spanish alternative used in the source text, crossumer, is not widely found in English.

This website uses cookies to keep it working smoothly. These cookies collect no personal data and will be deleted when you close your browser. More information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.